Deal of Nobility and Ambition
by Adrian King1
Summary: With no friends to turn to, one can only hope that an ally made through a deal will be enough.


"Are you out of your dumb Griffindor mind, Potter?" She asked. Right there and then I found out why everyone called her Ice Queen. Those blue eyes where colder than they had any right to be. "Just what made you of all people think I would help you?"

I took a deep breath in as I thought over my words carefully for once. Not having any allies really drove the point of thinking ahead home. I suppressed a bitter chuckle at the fact that I needed to look for allies in Slytherin House of all places. _'Here we go.'_ I thought to myself.

"I don't think you will help me." I replied calmly. I had planned this conversation for a few days. It had to go well. It just _had_ to. "But I think we can make a deal."

"Oh?" Was the only answer I got and I stopped myself from cursing. _'Make things more difficult, why don't you?'_

"Your family trades with magical creatures and everything related to them." It had taken days of reading through Daily Prophet papers in what little free time I had to find the information I needed. But death by dragon was a good motivator, who would have thought?

"So?" _'Think about the plan.' _I told myself. The plan sucked though, but it was that or following Mad-Eye's advice down to the letter. And his advice was, well... _mad_.

"I can get you basilisk skin." I said simply and her entire posture changed. I suppressed a grin as I saw her sit straight on the desk of the abandoned classroom and her body lean slightly forward. The dumb part of my brain told me to look down but my instinct of self-preservation kept my gaze strictly on her eyes.

"And how, pray tell, would you do something like that?" She asked, her tone was much more inviting.

"Do you remember second year's petrification incidents?" I said and suppressed a wince as an image of Hermione in a hospital bed came to mind. Maybe she was right to leave me.

"Are you telling me those were caused by a basilisk?" She asked bringing me out of thoughts. Looking at her, I could practically _see_ the gears turning. Good, she was thinking about it. There was hope for me.

"Yes. Fortunately, all the victims looked into its eyes indirectly." I said so that she understood a bit of the situation before going back to business. That was the only way to get her help, I believed. "Its dead and I can get you some of its shedded skin."

For a long moment, she sat there silenty, probably considering the offer. Meanwhile, I took a moment to thank Dobby for appearing out of nowhere when I was studying in a desperate attempt to keep my life in the stupid tournament. Who would have thought that complaining out loud about wanting treacle tart would bring one of my only allies inside the castle? The excitable house-elf was the one that made this plan viable after all. He could get into the Chamber of Secrets and, more importantly, get the basilisk and its shedded skins _out_ of it.

"Can you prove it?" She asked finally and this time I let myself grin at her.

"How would you like a trip to the Chamber of Secrets, Greengrass?"

* * *

So, there I was, preparing myself mentally for my duel against a nesting _dragon_ in order to steal one of its _eggs._ I so wanted to show the organizers some of the spells I had learned. But alas, I had to fight for my life if I wanted to even get a chance at that.

_'You got this.'_ I told myself as I held the wooden box firmly in my hands. I had a plan. Was it a reliable plan? That was debatable. But it was the best I was able to come up with by myself.

I sorely missed Hermione's brain. However, she had decided that she was tired of me dragging her and Ron to danger. Apparently, even her impressive mind could get confused sometimes, as evidenced previously by Lockhart. This time though, with her theory that I had been actually seeking for all the crazy situations we got involved in, she had reached new levels.

Furthermore, Ron had decided to believe I was an attention seeker too. So, I was left with two friends and a tentative allie inside the castle. Hagrid and Dobby as the first and the Ice Queen of Slytherin as the latter. Yeah, the whole thing was just bloody brilliant, wasn't it?

I shook my head. I didn't need those thoughts in my head right that moment, I thought as my name was called out. _'Time to face the Horntail.'_

As I entered the arena and saw the dragon, I felt the urge to just forget about the whole thing and just run. But I didn't have that choice. I had to participate or risk losing my magic. And I couldn't do that.

Before the dragon decided to just roast me, I left the box on the floor and ran to the side. I ignored the crowds screams and shouts as I transfigured the box into a big dog. It _could_ have been a sheep and it _could_ have worked. But I needed something that could catch the dragons attention over me with more certainty than that.

It could also have been a little lion or something, but I wasn't feeling the house pride after everyone left me to fend by myself.

I watched in glee as the dragon ate the dog almost whole with one bite as the transfigured creature tried to attack it. Taking advantage of the distraction, I caught my broom which I had summoned as soon as I entered thr arena. _'I ended up doing it anyway.' _I thought somewhat amused by the situation.

As the broomstick finally reached me and I felt the air hitting my face, I watched the dragon shake it's head groggily. I smirked as it tried to breath its fire at me without coming even close. Its senses were dampened and I, in my humble opinion, was bloody brilliant on a broom.

You see, the thing about facing a dragon is that their hide is so spell resistant that it takes several dragon handlers _minutes_ of firing stunners to knock them out. But I had found a way around that... or I hoped so. I had gambled on them not being so resistant internally.

That's where the box came in. It was filled to the brim with Dreamless Sleep Potions courtesy of one Daphne Greengrass. I had to give her a whole shedded skin but I had gotten her to spent the last few days brewing non-stop while I studied and trained my Transfiguration skills. She didn't believe in my strategy, but the possibility of getting her hands on the skin and all the good it would do to her family business made her grudgingly agree that it _could_ work.

Had I paid much more than it was worth? Probably, but beggars can't be choosers.

My gamble seemed to end in my win as I saw the dragon lay over her eggs and fall asleep.

_'Time for the finishing touch.'_ I thought as I landed besides the dragon, praying to Merlin that it wouldn't wake up on me. The stands had gone a bit more quiet but there was more than one loud voice that I _really_ wanted to hex at that moment. With a bit of Transfiguration, I made some rock pillars under one of the wings to bring it up. No way was I trying to lift it myself.

"Lumos." I whispered and went under the dragon holding my breath. Not even a minute later, I came out with the golden egg and left the arena. The screams of the crowd seemed to be even louder than at the start, but I continued ignoring them.

I wore a face-splitting grin as I went inside the infirmary tent to get checked up by Madam Pomfrey.

* * *

"You _are_ out of your dumb Griffindor mind." Greengrass stated once we met the day after the first task. "Did you have a plan B at the very least?"

"Of course I had-"

"Besides using your broom." My mouth clicked shut and she let out a long suffering sigh. "The worst trading partner ever." She muttered exasperated and I resisted the urge to smile at her. That wouldn't end well for me. "What now? I want some more skins before you kill yourself with your stupidity." She urged me and I rolled my eyes.

"Now, I have to find out what the egg even does. Everytime I open it, it just screeches so loud it hurts to listen." And hadn't that been embarrassing when I opened it in the common room?

That was another thing though. Now everyone was my friend back and I couldn't help but remember every other time they had turned on me. First year, when we had lost those points. Second year, when the whole Heir of Slytherin nonsense happened. And now this.

Even Ron and Hermione had tried to apologize. The first hadn't even properly done so. The second had said she had her doubts since the beginning. However, the thing was that they had left me. And I wouldn't forget, not this time.

"Can you tell me a bit more about the egg?" My Slytherin ally asked breaking me from my thoughts. Looking at her, I could see her mind was already at work. She resembled Hermione a bit, although much more focused. The Griffindor girl usually rambled a lot.

"It opens kinda like a flower." I started trying hard to remember more than the screech. "The inside looked like an egg-shaped bubble filled with little bubbles. Like it was filled with water, actually."

"Water..." She repeated to herself while pushing some blond locks behind her ear. Her eyes darting around as if seeing what her mind was processing. "Could be mermish. There are merpeople in the Black Lake. Their speech sounds like screeches when out of the water."

I could only stare at her with my mouth opening and closing dumbly. She could be wrong, obviously. But I hadn't gotten anything from the egg in a whole night. She, on the other hand, hadn't even seeing or heard the thing and already had a solid theory. It really payed to have an ally knowledgeable in magical creatures and the like, I thought to myself.

"So, I have to try and listen to it underwater, easy enough." I mused and she nodded.

"Now, my payment for the first task." She urged and I stood up.

"Dobby?" With a crack the house-elf appeared besides me.

"The great Harry Potter sir called Dobby." Ignoring Greengrass's amused raised eyebrow, I spoke to Dobby. I was prepared this time. I had been thoroughly embarrassed when I had explained how I would get her the skin.

"Yes, can you get the skin to where Miss Greengrass told us, please?" I asked politely and he nodded flapping his big ears before disappearing with anither crack. A few seconds later, he came back.

"I is done, great Harry Potter sir!" He exclaimed excitedly hopping on his feet.

"Thank you, Dobby. I really appreciate it."

"The great Harry Potter sir is too kind to Dobby!" He all but screamed as he hugged my leg and I did my best not to cringe.

"Well, with that done, see you in a few days." Greengrass said as she started walking towards the door, not before I could catch her lips twitching in a barely suppressed smirk. "Oh, and..." She stopped right before the door. "congratulations, Potter."

"Thanks for the help, Greengrass." I told her as the door closed behind her.

* * *

"Well, this one should be easy enough." Daphne said as she went over the clue the egg had given me. "I get you some gillyweed and you just need to have your spells up to par for the creatures of the lake." I nodded, although I didn't have any idea what gillyweed actually was. I would look it up later when I wanted to rest a bit from training.

"Smart of you to give me a smaller skin than what you showed me in the Chamber." She continued with a small smirk. "Should have specified the size."

"You really should have, yes." I said returning her smirk. She still ended up on the winning side of the bargain anyway, so I wasn't too nervous about her leaving because of that.

"I want to change the deal though." She said and I kept my face neutral. It wasn't an unexpected thing. I just hoped she wouldn't ask for too much. I really needed the help. For a split second, I think I saw her doubt and fidget before she continued. "I'll get the gillyweed to you for free." My eyes widened in surprise. "But I need you to do me a favor." I narrowed my eyes as she took a deep breath in.

"What favor?" I asked after a moment of silence and she sighed tiredly before looking straight at me with her ice blue eyes.

"Could you take care of Malfoy for me?" My eyebrows shot up at that question. "Malfoy Sr has been trying to get my father to sign a bethrodal for Draco and Astoria. The ferret has been harrassing my sister ever since. Like he'll ever get what he wants." She spat the last bit venomously.

As she explained, I had to bit my tongue in order not to ask a million questions just because of those few statements. No, I had to focus on the important bits. Her family, or at least her, apparently didn't aprove of the Malfoys which was a plus in my books. And Malfoy Jr was harrassing a girl two years younger than us. That was all I needed to know for now. Maybe reading about wizarding customes was in order.

"If you do this-"

"Fine." I interrupted casually and she turned to me with a gobsmacked expression. I fought back a laugh at that. It was the first time I saw her perfect-lady mask falling off completely.

"Just like that?" She asked incredulously.

"Do I really look like I need a reason to hex Malfoy?" My voice laced with amusement.

"..." She stared at me as her mask slowly came back to place. I took a moment to think about how much this must have meant to her if she was so affected. "Thank you, Harry." She whispered before returning to her usual regal posture. "Either way, you'll have to keep your name out of it. It wouldn't help if people in my house get word of our agreement, Potter."

"So, hex his ass and tell him to stay away from your sister, but don't let him know it's_ me_ the one doing it, right?" I summarized getting a nod from her. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. I'm probably going to have to search for some spells to cover my identity and to get the point across." I was actually looking forward to training for this. Almost as motivating as a life or death situation.

"I'll see what else I can do for you. Some gillyweed won't be enough for this." I was surprised she said that. I was expecting her leave it at that.

"Actually, there's something you could do for me, Greengrass." I replied looking away, this would get really awkward really fast, I just knew.

"You don't fill me with confidence, Potter."

"Well, you see... another part of the tournament is... well, there is a... Yule Ball, apparently." I managed to say through my embarrassement.

"If you are saying what I think you are saying, Potter, I swear to Merlin-"

"I don't know how to dance." I blurted out to stop her from misunderstanding and she sighed in relief. "I would appreciate some help."

"Oh, thank Morgana, for a second I thought you would be dumb enough to ask me to be your date. That would be social suicide for the both of us." She said and I didn't know if I should be happy or angry about her words. "I can teach you how to dance, I guess. Astoria's happiness is worth some stepped toes at the very least. I think." I smiled at her and she answered with a slight quirking of her lips. "We have a deal, Potter."

* * *

"I don't know what you did to the ferret, but the boys are saying that he absolutely refuses to enter the showers unless he is alone." She told me in our next meeting and I swelled with pride.

It hadn't taken much, actually. Just my Cloak, a voice altering charm, some of the jinxes and hexes I already knew and one of the lightest jinxes found in the Restricted Section under the previously mentioned cloak. It had been ridiculously easy too. The only wonder was why I hadn't done it sooner.

"Anyway, for the look on his face everytime Astoria enters the same room he is in, I can throw in a little extra and teach you a thing or two about Balls and how not to ruin the night for whatever poor soul you take as your date." It should be a statement about how cheerful she sounded that I didn't even roll my eyes at her words. I must admit that I quite liked seen glimpses beneath the ice cold mask she usually wore. "Now, the first thing we'll adress is your robes..."

* * *

"Well, by the way Padma keeps smiling from ear to ear, you must have remembered at least some of the things I taught you." Daphne commented in our next meeting.

"I did." I nodded with a smile, not fazed by her words. After all her 'classes', I was pretty much immune. The ball hadn't been what I expected and my date hadn't been the one I wanted. But Cho already had a date and so, I had gone with Padma Patil. "Thanks for the help. How was your night?"

"It was an enjoyable night. Although, it wasn't quite what I'm used to." She answered dismissively and I raised an eyebrow.

"And what differences where there?"

"Well, for starters, The Weird Sisters are good and all but I wouldn't put them in a Yule celebration." She said scrunching her nose to show her distaste of the choice. "I guess they thought it would be better considering that the attendance was mostly teenagers but still..."

We spent the next hour discussing the different celebrations and costumes of the wizarding world. It was facinating enough that I forgot about the fact that Daphne had come to the RoR where i practiced without an actual reason to meet. It was much later when I noticed it and to be honest, I found myself smiling at that.

* * *

"A maze filled with creatures, huh?" Daphne mused after I informed her of the Third Task. "Well, if you can tell me the creatures, I may be able to help you find weaknesses. As long as they don't bring anything as dangerous and troublesome as dragons, you should be fine."

"That's what I was thinking." I nodded. "Actually, I'm not that worried about this task. I don't lose anything if I don't reach the goal after all. I just want all this to be over."

"If you are going to have my help, you better put some effort in this, Harry." She said sharply and I subconsciously nodded. "Good." She nodded pleased before she frowned in thought. "Maybe there's some kind of potion I can make too. I can help a lot more in this task, Harry. So, I expect the biggest skin there is, are we clear?" I simply smiled and nodded as she started going over plans.

* * *

"Harry, talk to me." She said softly taking my hand over my bed in the Hospital Wing. "Harry."

"He is back." I muttered, my voice raw because of my hurt throat. Phantom pains of Voldemort's Cruciatus going over my body. "Voldemort is back." We both shuddered one out of fear and the other because of recent memories.

"How?" She breathed out.

"Some kind of ritual... Bone, flesh... my blood." My voice cracked and my hands started trembling uncontrollably.

"It's ok, Harry." At any other moment, I would have been shocked by how softly she was speaking. "You are ok."

"But I won't be." I said shaking my head. "He'll come for me. I know it."

"Then you'll be prepared." She nodded resolutely. "Allies, remember." She actually smiled and, despite everything, I smiled back.

"You must be out of your cunning Slytherin mind, Daphne."

**[The End]**

* * *

**Hey, guys! How's it going?**

First of all, I want to say that this is a One-Shot that I've been writing on my phone, so if you see any glaring error, point it out.

Just in case someone tells me that Harry shouldn't be allowed to have the box, I want to point out that no one said anything about the gillyweed in the second task so it should be the same with this. Also, tradition says the first task should be something regarding a beast (in my head at least) so DS Potion shouldn't be too specific.

There's a chance of this being turned into a multichapter long fic but considering the works I'm already working on, I doubt it.

That's everything. I hope you enjoyed it.

**See you.**


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